HI4Y Secures Backing from Ashoka Africa, Kwanda to Deploy Youth Health Action Lab

Health Impact for Youth (HI4Y) has launched a dual-phase social enterprise initiative, tagged “Youth Health Action Lab: Empowering Young Changemakers Through Health Literacy,” successfully transitioning 150 beneficiaries in Niger State from passive awareness into active mental health advocates and community leaders.

The project, executed with backing from Ashoka Africa and Kwanda, was divided into a school-based mental health advocacy programme and a subsequent community health engagement phase.

The initial framework engaged 50 secondary school students in interactive capacity-building sessions. Facilitated by a mental health professional, mentors, and educators, the curriculum covered mental health, emotional wellbeing, empathy, peer support, design thinking, leadership, and changemaking.

Utilizing a peer-circle model, participants analyzed localized operational risks to student well-being—including depression, low self-esteem, peer pressure, family-related difficulties, and peer conflict. This task produced 10 distinct, student-led initiatives, including anti-bullying campaigns, peer support networks, confidence-building programmes, friendship and peer-pressure awareness initiatives as well as activities promoting positive behavior and emotional wellbeing.

According to HI4Y, the initiative’s objectives stretched beyond expanding baseline mental health literacy to actively empowering young demographics to drive structural solutions, marking a operational pivot from passive learning to active leadership.

Emmanuel Anene, Headboy of one of the participating schools, Farem Grace and Mercy School, whose project ranked among the programme’s top interventions, said the sessions transformed students’ understanding of mental health.

He said, “Through the peer circles and activities, many of us grew in confidence, teamwork, and leadership. We are no longer just students listening to talks; we have become mental health advocates and changemakers within our school,” he said.

The school’s Principal, Mr. Monday Adeiza announced plans to launch a virtual mental health advocacy platform to sustain student engagement after the programme.

“We want that impact to continue spreading,”he said.

Building on the school programme, the organisation extended the initiative to the wider community, reaching and engaging 100 community members with activities focused on health literacy, malaria prevention, community participation and youth-led action.

Speaking on the initiative, Project Lead, Unique Okewoye said the programme was designed to help young people see themselves as leaders capable of driving change within their communities.

“Young people are often viewed as beneficiaries of development programmes, but through this project, we wanted them to see themselves as leaders, problem-solvers, and advocates capable of creating meaningful change in their communities,” she said.

According to her, the Youth Health Action Lab aligns with HI4Y’s mission to strengthen health literacy, promote mental wellbeing and empower young people to take ownership of challenges affecting their communities.